Okinawa Zoo

We visited the much maligned (by those few who we know have visited) Okinawa "Kodomo no Kuni" (a zoo & kid's park), which is not far from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa City. The weather cooperated for us (especially considering that it's very much rainy season right now) & the animal collection they housed was actually pretty decent, in terms of quantity, variety & exoticity (is that a word?). I guess, coming from North America, it's not hard to show us animals that we'd consider exotic. We were a little saddened by several of the habitats (mainly the ostriches & hippos & a few others), but otherwise we thought it was worth the time & 500-yen entrance fee.

Okinawa Zoo

The centrally located pond was kind of amusing. Walking along the boardwalk, the carp would actually follow you because they were so used to people throwing food (which was sold in vending machines) to them. And when people did throw food in, it was utter madness seeing all the teeming mouths gaping to get the crumbs. The way they behaved you'd think they were starving, but they were all fat & huge! The Okinawa Marine publication recently did a nice little write-up on the park (which includes a couple more attractions targeted directly at kids)/